Border Patrol officers in El Paso seize 120 bottles of water bottles filled with meth
El Paso TX Aug 20 2020 Water can cool off thirsty residents in western Texas, but one 18-year-old man tried to pass off liquid methamphetamine in water bottles as he crossed into the United States from Mexico.
It didn’t work.
Border Patrol officers seized nearly 158 pounds of liquid meth Friday at the Ysleta port of entry in El Paso, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a news release Tuesday. Officials said the man arrived as a pedestrian from Mexico just after 7 p.m.
The man declared three cases of bottled water, and agents selected him for a secondary exam, the CBP said in its release.
Using a drug-sniffing dog, officials determined the presence of narcotics. An X-ray scan of the 120 water bottles revealed dense liquid, which tested positive for methamphetamine.
“The primary CBP officer on duty was thorough and focused and was able to identify this pedestrian as a person who needed additional scrutiny,” CBP Ysleta Port of Entry Director Arnie Gomez said in the release.
The man was arrested by border patrol agents and turned over to Homeland Security Investigations agents.
In late June, border agents discovered more than $11 million worth of liquid meth inside a commercial bus in Eagle Pass, Texas. In March, three separate border seizures at south Texas ports of entry yielded nearly $6 million worth of liquid meth.
